


Every Breath You Take

by BarPurple



Series: Writer's Block [9]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Inspired by Music, Magic, Possessive Behavior
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-29
Updated: 2017-01-29
Packaged: 2018-09-20 19:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 338
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9508304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BarPurple/pseuds/BarPurple
Summary: After being banished Rumple in haunted by more than memories.





	

He saw her in every reflective surface. He’d lived through this before under eerily similar circumstances, he’d coped back in the Enchanted Forest, he would cope with glimpsing Belle’s face here in the World without Magic.

After a few days things changed, he wasn’t just seeing a fleeting image of her, not just a memory projected onto a mirror. Either he’d finally lost his grip on sanity or this world had more magic than it pretended. Rumple was witnessing actual moments from Belle’s life in Storybrooke. 

In a restroom mirror Belle walked out of their house.

In a surface of a glass of water Belle opened the library.

In the back of a spoon Belle ate at lunch at Granny’s.

In a puddle Belle moved into the apartment above the library. An incoming bus sent the puddle slopping over Rumple’s shoes, but it was losing sight of her and not the cold oily water seeping into his shoes that made him curse.

The bus journey to New York was torture, not being able to feel the steady thrum of background magic made him wince and flinch at every jolt and bump. He composed himself after getting more than a few sideways glances from the other passengers. To avoid their disapproval and judgement he turned his gaze toward the window, and then the real torture began.

In the glassy blackness of the window Belle going about her evening and night as if nothing unusual had happen a few days ago. He watched every step she took around the town that had been his domain. As the night drew on he watched her sleeping, breathing slow and even, undisturbed by fear or nightmare.

Rumple’s hands balled into fists; a strength of purpose crept into him bringing with it the opening moves of a plan. Magic was his, Belle was his and he never let go of what belonged to him. The sun was coming up and the images on the glass faded. Rumple sighed under his breath; “It’s forever, dearie.”

**Author's Note:**

> inspired by Every Breath You Take by The Police


End file.
